Editorial: Challenging the power of the speaker

Tuesday

Jan 26, 2010 at 12:01 AMJan 26, 2010 at 10:31 AM

House insurgents are moving beyond the legal fees spent on the Sal DiMasi case to a broader critique of the system. "When all power is put in the hands of one person, it corrupts that process and opens the door to abuse," eight members wrote in a letter to their colleagues last week. "A Speaker now determines everything in the Massachusetts House."

Since its Republican minority dwindled to irrelevance decades ago, the fights in the Massachusetts House of Representatives have been about personal loyalty, not about ideas. Power was consolidated in the speaker's chair. If you were an ally of the speaker, you got perks and, sometimes, the ability to influence events. If you weren't, you were on the outside looking in.

The indictment of three House speakers in a row, not to mention the general low esteem in which the Legislature is held by the people it is supposed to serve, ought to have inspired a reform movement long ago. But as we saw most vividly a year ago, when House Democrats re-elected then-Speaker Sal DiMasi despite the ethics scandal that would force his resignation a few weeks later, what counts most is being on the right side of the boss.

A few months ago, complaints from a handful of House Democrats considered to be on the wrong side of the new boss, Speaker Robert DeLeo, seemed like more of the same. DeLeo was in hot water after it was reported the House had spent $378,000 on legal fees related to DiMasi's federal criminal indictment. A group of four insurgents demanded an accounting, but Beacon Hill insiders dismissed them as simply disgruntled supporters of the man DeLeo defeated for speaker.

But those insurgents, their number now doubled, are moving beyond the legal fees to a broader critique of the system. "When all power is put in the hands of one person, it corrupts that process and opens the door to abuse," eight members wrote in a letter to their colleagues last week. "A Speaker now determines everything in the Massachusetts House."

The insurgents are calling for specific reforms, including:

1. Rein in the speaker's power over home rule petitions, which typically concern just one member and a community in his or her district.

2. Make the state budget process in the House more transparent, and give all members access to specifics in the $47 million House operating budget, now closely held by the speaker.

3. "Provide a leadership election and committee appointment process that distributes more power to the members and less power to the Speaker;"

4. Give legislators more control over the budgets of their own offices.

5. Eliminate or narrow legislative exemptions to the Open Meeting Law, Public Records Law, and purchasing standards.

The group of eight, which includes Rep. Tom Stanley, D-Waltham, are already in DeLeo's doghouse, insiders will say. Some have lost leadership positions they held under DiMasi, and supported DeLeo's rival, John Rogers. But the issues they raise go to the heart of the dysfunctionality on Beacon Hill, and that touches everyone.

"We want the House to become a functional democracy," the group says in its letter to House colleagues. So should every other representative, even those in DeLeo's inner circle. Each of them should have to explain to voters this year what they will do to bring reform to the House.

The MetroWest Daily News

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